Case of shooting victim in ‘cashgate’ fails due to Malawi judiciary strike

The case in which renowned lawyer Ralph Kasambara, businessman Pika and his elder brother Dauka, Robert Kadzuwa and Mac Donald Kumwembe are charged of allegedly conspiring and attempting to kill former Malawi Budget Director Paul Mphwiyo, whose shooting on 13 September 2013 led to the unravelling of the systematic looting of millions of government money dubbed ‘cashgate’, failed to start on Wednesday November 12 as the striking judiciary support staff disrupted the hearing.

The court staff demanding that government should increase their salaries as it did with all civil servants.

The support staff includes court reporters that record all court proceedings, stenographers who transcribe them, court clerks, secretaries and guards. Their action will likely paralyse the courts and access to justice.

According to defence lawyer Wapona Kita, before they started briefing Justice Michael Ntambo in his chamber, the support staff started singing songs of protest.

“We have been told that we will be communicated as to when the case will start soon after the strike has been called off,” said Kita in an interview.

Kasambara was supposed to continue cross examining Mphwiyo in the case.

In the last sitting, Kasambara punched holes in the testimony of shooting victim Mphwiyo, disputing claims that he saw his gunman at the scene and he was being pressurised to make dubious payments to companies.

Defence lawyers for the accused persons also disputed claims that Mphwiyo identified the gunman as Macdonald Kumwembe, lawyer Ralph Kasambara and businessman Pika Manondo when he was shot.

It was also Kasambara, who is representing himself, who brought in the element that the car Mphwiyo was driving on September 13 as having been stolen and unregistered to which Mphwiyo said he was not aware of.

Kita, lawyer for Kumwembe, Kadzuwa and Dauka tendered as evidence a passport of Kumwembe which indicated that he travelled to Mozambique between August 30 and September 14 2013.

The gun-shot survivor in his testimony told the court that Brown Mpinganjira, a senior government official in the former Joyce Banda administration, warned him that former Justice Minister and Attorney Ralph Kasambara and another former ruling People’s Party (PP) official Hophmally Makande, had given him “ten days to live” unless he honoured certain government payments.

Makande, a former PP spokesman, is not on trial for the case but Kasambara, who has been charged with conspiracy to murder Mphwiyo, denies the charges. He is on trial alongside four others, including a cashgate chief suspect Oswald Lutepo who was recently included as an accused in the matter.

Mphwiyo told the court that two bullets hit him in the mandible and another went through his shoulder to his chest. One bullet was removed in a South African hospital but two others – lodged in his spinal column – will remain inside the 38-year-old for the rest of his life.

Mphwiyo’s shooting unravelled ‘cashgate’ as his shooting came after millions of cash in Malawi kwacha, US dollars and South African rands started pitching up in unlikely places like in car trunks, baby dolls, under beds or in pillow cases where one Victor Sithole, a junior accountant in government was arrested and recently jailed nine years.

Western donor countries and agencies reacted by freezing aid for Malawi.

At least 70 suspects are currently in court facing fraud, corruption and money laundering charges surrounding ‘cashgate’, Malawi’s worst financial scandal in its 50 years as an independent country.—(Additional reporting by Wanga Gwede, Nyasa Times)

Achewa just shut up kupusa kwambiri you have no ambition as long as you have eaten nsima thats okay. Just look at the way Belekanyama and his committee endorsed the useless ambassadors just because they were paid a million keacha each. It is written in the bible that Mchewa and Mtumbuka shall never rule but work for southerners.

tendering as evidence that the incident happened while one was outside the country is no evidence at all. on a planned event, that is what is supposed to be done. go outside the country officially then come back using illegal ways, execute your mission then go back through the same way. Finally back into the country through the border using the passport. SO EASY and claim you were outside the country. just try this and the evidence will become irrelevant. Mwatani a Malawi being outside the country is no evidence at all.

Number 18 is wrong to say that the fact that Kumwembe’s passport shows that he was outside the country when the shooting of Mphwiyo happened can not be evidence that he was not at the scene of shooting. The State is the one to prove by bringing evidence that he was indeed in the country at the time. Surely if Kumwembe was in the country at that time, some people other than Mphwiyo must have seen him. It looks like Mphwiyo was shot for double crossing some partners in crime

These greedy cashgate people hv caused so much havoc to the povos in Malawi.No drugs in Malawian hospitals,economy is in shambles,everything not working because our donors hv lost trust in us because of these thieves protected by hungry money loving lawyers.These people shd be thrown in jails and their properties forfeited to recover the waisted tax payers money.If it was China they would all hv been dangling on the rope.With this silly mindset,Malawian will never change.Izitipotsa ndi Rwanda where people had been butchering each other like nobody business.If nothing changes Malawians should go in street and demonstrate for change of… Read more »

Plato you are very very very right, this country is at mess because of the people from the south. All crooked and president theifs have come from the south, they introduced cashgate because people from the south they do not know to work for themselves. Very lazy people, all they expect is to receive free hand outs. Every year this region is found in very critical hunger situation. It is the central and the north that is feeding these lazy people. Remember it is southern leaders who often said “anyamata azithamangathamanga” meaning kuba. We serious robbery and crime rate now… Read more »

The thing is, all judicially support staff think they are lawyers just because they work in courts where they interact with the liers. Is it not just a few months ago that their salaries were increased? I think government should not succumb to their demands each and every time they cry out. Asatisowetse mtendere amanewa. Instead, they should be retired or transfered to other government departments. We have young lawyers coming from BIU, Mpemba and other private colleges. Employ them to start gaining experience as support staff and later they can rise to become real lawyers through further studies as… Read more »